especially after the danger was over. Many a time I have
known him make demonstrations as fierce as a tiger when people rode by
our house, though he generally took care not to insult them until they
were at a convenient distance. Rover had no notion of being killed,
knowing very well that if he were dead, he could be of no farther
service whatever to the world. Hudibras said well when he said,

"That he who fights and runs away,
May live to fight another day."

That was good logic. But Rover went farther than this, even. He was for
running away before he fought at all; and so he always did, except when
the enemy ran away first, in which case he ran after him, as every
chivalrous dog should. In the case of the animal which I shot at, Rover
bounded to his side when the gun was discharged, as I said before. For
myself, I did not venture quite so soon, remembering that caution is the
parent of safety. By and by, however, I mustered courage, and advanced
to the spot. There lay the victim of my first shot. It was one of my
father's sheep! Poor creature! She was sick, I believe, and went into
the thicket, near a stream of water, where she could die in peace. I
don't know whether I hit her or not. I didn't look to see, but ran home
as fast as my legs would carry me. Thus ended the first hunting
excursion in which I ever engaged; and though I was a mere boy then, and
am approaching the meridian of life now, it proved to be my last.

The Deer.

There are several species of the deer--the moose, stag, rein-deer, elk,
and others. Of these, the stag is one of the most interesting. He is
said to love music, and to show great delight in hearing a person sing.
"Traveling some years since," says a gentleman whose statements may be
relied on, "I met a bevy of about twenty stags, following a bagpipe and
violin. While the music continued, they proceeded; when it ceased, they
all stood still."

As Captain Smith, a British officer in Bengal, was out one day in a
shooting party, very early in the morning, they observed a tiger steal
out of a jungle, in pursuit of a herd of deer. Having selected one as
his object, it was quickly deserted by the herd. The tiger advanced
with such amazing swiftness, that the stag in vain attempted to
escape, and at the moment the officer expected to see the animal make
the fatal spring, the deer gallantly faced his enemy, and for some
minutes kept him at bay; and it was not till after three attacks,